


Predetermined Fate

by Oddaudrey



Category: Dragon Quest IX
Genre: Except it's a dream sequence, Other, Please be nice to my children, This is based on a scene from the beginning of the game, With A Twist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 21:16:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14819036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oddaudrey/pseuds/Oddaudrey
Summary: Pyxis, the smallest of all the Celestrians, has a prophetic dream of what his true purpose is...And how his mentor truly feels.





	Predetermined Fate

The corridors of the Observatory did not look like the depressing husk that Pyxis remembered upon his visit after Coffinwell. 

It once again looked tall and golden and glamorous as the young Celestrian remembered it to be.

He heard the voice of his mentor Aquila, talking quietly to the Celestrian Columba in her library. His voice grew louder and louder without Pyxis moving so much as an inch closer to the closed door. Eventually, the familiar sound of Aquila’s voice drew him in closer, oh, how he missed him…

Once Pyxis reached the door, Aquila’s voice stopped. Pyxis silently willed him to continue speaking, to hear his master’s voice that he had almost forgotten throughout his journey. 

“I was surprised to hear of Pyxis’s promotion to guardian, I did not expect you to permit it so soon.” Columba admitted. 

“You assume too much Columba, I also believe it is too soon for Pyxis to take on the guardian role…It is Apus Major’s decision, not mine.” Aquila bellowed. 

“If it is truly his decision then we should believe in his choice, should we not?” Columba tried to ease his anxiety but Aquila did not accept it. 

“No, you do not understand. Have you forgotten the tragedy of Corvus so soon?” Aquila snapped at her. 

“Of course not, but Pyxis is different.” Columba insisted. 

“That is exactly why I worry!” Aquila clenched his fists up so tightly his knuckles turned white, “I love the boy, I really do, but he is the smallest out of all of us. His constellation of birth so faint I worry he may fade if he leaves my sight!”

Pyxis froze in place and slowly opened the door. Perhaps he really was faint for Aquila nor Columba noticed he was in the room. 

“And so my apprehension may come from losing my beloved Corvus, but it flourishes much stronger at the possible fear of losing Pyxis.” Aquila said, his shaky hand pressing up against his chest. 

“Mentor, I’m right here.” Pyxis called out to him softly. Aquila didn’t listen. 

Columba stood from her seat and spoke in a voice that didn’t belong to her. 

“You should put more faith in Pyxis. His fate is far beyond your reach.” The strange voice spoke through Columba’s mouth. 

His face morphed into that of another, a girl clad with a reef of leaves resting on top of her golden hair. 

“For what are great birds without a compass to guide them? No one can save the crow but him. No one can save your people, our people, but him. As small as he may be, he is the only one who can accomplish this.” The woman said in a strong voice. 

“Anyone but him…” Aquila practically begged, desperation laced in his voice.  
“No one but him.” The woman answered firmly. 

Then the room turned white. 

Pyxis extending his arms, reaching for something familiar but nothing was there…It was all gone. 

“Pyxis, you know what you must do.” The woman said, his face could not be seen but she was still there, perhaps she was always there. For the pain of losing his wings burned against his back once more, he woke in the Alltrades Abbey Inn. 

His team sat close to his bed, August not far away, mixing something into his steamy travel cauldron. 

Eloise was looking at what he was doing from where she sat on his right, Millie was close to his left. She held his hand and had her face buried in her shoulder. 

Pyxis let out a gasp when reality had crashed into him, causing all three of his teammates to glare at him with wide worried eyes. 

“Pyxis!” Millie let out a sigh of relief, “Are you okay?” 

“I think so.” Pyxis said, allowing Eloise and Millie to help him sit up, “I-I’m sorry if I caused you to worry.” 

“Of course I was worried!” Millie grew quickly upset, “I thought you-“ she stopped herself from continuing. 

“You collapsed after we saved Jack of Alltrades. Almost as soon as you held the fygg in your arms you just…Dropped.” Eloise said.

“The fygg-“ Pyxis started. 

“It’s safe, it’s in my bag.” Millie answered once she was calm again, she pulled it out of said bag and held it up to him. 

“I don’t understand what happened.” Pyxis was still fixed on how strange the whole incident was, how real and frightening the ‘dream’ was. 

“I have a theory.” August added himself into the conversation, bringing a bowl of whatever potion he was making over to Pyxis, he gently held it up to Pyxis’s lips. 

“You’re exhausted and stressed. You finally found your way back home to find it destroyed and then you’re told you have to come back here and find all these magical fyggs without any time to process anything. You’ve just pushed yourself too hard.” August explained, “Believe me, I know these things.”

Pyxis drank slowly and shuddered at the aftertaste, “I believe you.” 

“I know you do.” August smiled. 

Pyxis smiled back, but he thought back on how similar the voice was to that he heard from the Yggdrasil. 

A vision? A message? A sign? It was all so mysterious and unknown and he couldn’t decide whether his predetermined fate and Aquila’s lack of faith in his abilities were true or some bizarre dream he had under stress. 

Guilt overcame him. He still had no idea who Corvus was, but it was undoubtedly someone whose disappearance has hurt his mentor, as his must do now. 

“You’re okay now, right?” Millie asked him. 

“I think so.” Pyxis was determined to seem bright to his friends once more. 

“Good, I’m not losing any more friends, especially not you.” Eloise ruffled his hair, “When you’re feeling better we can check out Port Llaffan. It’s south from here. I’m sure there’s another fruit thingy there.”

“Fygg.” Pyxis and August corrected her at the same time. 

Eloise rolled her eyes, “Yeah, Fyggs.” 

Pyxis supposed he was still looking thoughtful because when he turned his head Millie was staring right at him. 

“I’m sorry for worrying you.” Pyxis apologized again, knowing that out of everyone, the ordeal must have been scariest to her. 

He placed a hand on her shoulder and she held onto that hand as if she would never see him again. 

“I know I’m here for a reason, something beyond what I already know.” Pyxis said, “Something my mentor couldn’t even predict.”

“Saving your world?” August asked. 

“Saving…” Pyxis started, but he trailed off. 

A compass to guide great birds. 

This wasn’t about restoring just the Observatory. 

This was about bringing change. 

The lost Celestrians. 

Aquila. 

Her voice. 

“Everyone.” Pyxis finished, “I’m going to save everyone.”

“Well you’re damn lucky you have the most knowledgeable holy man as your priest because saving everyone is going to be a lot of work for someone small like you.” August patted his shoulder roughly. 

“You flatter yourself.” Eloise sneered at him jokingly, “I’m the one with more experience in saving people. I’m pretty famous in Stornway.”

“We’re not in Stornway now, are we, El?” August laughed, but backed away when Eloise raised a clenched fist at him. She roughly punched his shoulder, causing August to grab at his cross and raise it up to the warrior women, “Stop! Stop!” He laughed. 

“We’re with you, Pyxis.” Millie said in a quiet voice, just barely heard over the other two play fighting, “I’m with you.” 

Pyxis thought to himself, ‘Oh mentor, please forgive me. I knew not of what my purpose was but I do now. I swear you will see and understand when we meet again.’

Saving both the Celestrians and the people of the Protectorate may be difficult, especially for someone as small and faint as him. 

Perhaps the dream was more likely a vision than just a figment of his imagination. 

One thing was for certain, he would not become like Corvus, whoever the poor soul was. 

‘Have faith in me, mentor’


End file.
